Iced Cinnamon Roll Cookies

These are a little more tricky than your standard drop cookies, but they look and taste amazing so it’s worth the effort.

I just made these again to take to a family Bat Mitzvah in the Bay Area, and this time I chose to ice them; my original post said To Ice or Not To Ice, and now I say definitely ice them!

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

Adapted from 

Click here to see Orna drizzle icing on YouTube >>

I found meringue powder at Williams Sonoma.

Tips

An electric knife makes cutting the slices of dough easy as pie!

For cookies with sharp, crisp edges, chill the dough for at least 4 hours before cutting. This gives it time to harden enough so the roll doesn’t buckle when you slice off rounds with a sharp knife. (Cuisine: Holiday Baking, pg. 45)

How To Transfer Cookies to a Baking Rack

To transfer the cookies to the wire rack, hold the baking sheet in one hand (using an oven glove!) and swiftly remove the parchment and cookies to the wire rack in one movement.

Cool Tools

• Fox Run Baking Mat
• Parchment Paper Sheets
• Hand-Mixer
• Electric Carving Knife
• Offset Spatula
• Ruler
• Quart Freezer Ziplock Bag

Resources

• Cuisine: Holiday Baking, Pistachio Pinwheels, pg. 45
• Kitchen Savvy: adding eggs and dry ingredients in baking
• The Joy of Baking: Butter or shortened cakes recipe
• Click here for my Facebook thread on Norene’s Kitchen
  (Norene Gilletz) on adding eggs one at a time >>

Iced Cinnamon Roll Cookies

Orna

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

For the filling

• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

For the dough

• 3 cups 15oz all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon table salt
• 2 sticks 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar I use light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the icing

• 1 cup powdered sugar sifted
• 2 - 3 tablespoons warm water
• ½ teaspoon powdered egg whites or meringue powder

Instructions

 

• Trace a 9x16-inch rectangle on a sheet of parchment or wax paper.
• Combine granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and salt in a bowl; set aside.
• Cream butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until smooth. Scrape bowl with rubber spatula.
• Add eggs (one at a time) and vanilla; mix on low speed until incorporated. Scrape bowl again.
• With mixer on low speed, add dry ingredients, blending just to incorporate; do not overmix.
• Pat dough into a rectangle using your hands. (Turn parchment over so you don't get ink on your dough.) Have your bowl of ice water ready for dipping your hands. (see notes)
• Sprinkle half the cinnamon-sugar mixture over dough. (about 1/4 cup)
• Roll dough tightly into a log, beginning on a long side and using the paper to help you.
• Dust outside of log with remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture. (I didn't use all of it.) Wrap log in plastic and let chill at least 4 hours. (I prefer to do it overnight.)
• Position the rack in the centre of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Slice chilled dough with an electric carving knife or sharp serrated knife into 1/2-inch-thick slices and arrange on prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart, 18 - 20 per baking sheet. Trim the edges first if you want all the slices to be perfect… but I think you need at least two "tasters!"
• Bake one tray at a time until golden, 10 - 13 minutes, rotating sheet after 7 - 8 minutes. (See notes) Let cool on pan 5 minutes, then transfer parchment with cookies to a baking rack.
• To Ice: Sift powdered sugar into a medium bowl; add egg whites or meringue powder. Whisk in 2 tablespoons of warm water (I used my hot water tap), adding more water if necessary until you get a nice thick consistency. Pour into a quart freezer ziplock bag, twisting the top of the bag to hold. Cut a tiny hole on the end and drizzle over cooled cookies; let stand until icing dries. (I had to transfer the cookies to a wire rack using an offset spatula after a half hour so that the icing would dry completely before stacking and freezing them.)

Notes

The recipe has a bake time of 10 - 12 minutes, but I found that they needed about 13, depending on how big/thick your slices are; check the bottoms for doneness.
This cookie dough is very soft. As you pat it out, periodically dip your fingers in water to keep them from sticking. If the dough seems too soft to roll into a log, chill it for about 30 minutes, then try again.
Powdered egg whites or meringue powder will help the icing dry hard. It's OK to omit the powdered egg whites, but the iced cookies won't be stackable.
Recipe can be doubled.

Make-Ahead:
Wrap logs in plastic and then foil.
Freeze logs up to 3 months; thaw in refrigerator before cutting and baking.
Freeze cookies unfrosted for up to 1 month.

Adapted from Jennifer Fisher's recipe in Cuisine: Cookies for the Holidays